by Charly Mann
Of all the songs that I associate with Chapel Hill, Carolina In The Morning is the one that I think best captures its essence: beauty and romance.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning,
No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning.
Where the morning glories
Twine around the door,
Whispering pretty stories
I long to hear once more.
Strolling with my girlie where the dew is pearly early in the morning,
Butterflies all flutter up and kiss each little buttercup at dawning,
If I had Aladdin's lamp for only a day,
I'd make a wish and here’s what I'd say:
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.
Indeed nothing could be finer than to be in Chapel Hill, and it is the one place most of us would wish to be at over any place on earth. German born, Tin Pan Alley songwriter, Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics to the song in 1922. His partner Walter Donaldson wrote the music. Over the years there has been debate about exactly which spot in Carolina the song is about, but I have always known it was Chapel Hill. After all UNC is Carolina, and Chapel Hill is UNC. And just as we all know James Taylor's Carolina In My Mind is not about South Carolina, Raleigh, Asheville, or Greensboro, the lyrics and sentiments of this song, only match a town with the dreamlike qualities of Chapel Hill.

A butterfly fluttering up to kiss buttercups in Chapel Hill
Carolina in The Morning is from a 1922 Broadway production called The Passing Show, and was sung by future I Love Lucy co-star William Frawley (Fred Mertz). Marion Harris, one of my favorite early singers, made the first recording of the song, and is probably most responsible for popularizing it.
I have included six of my favorite versions of the song here for you to listen to including the one by Marion Harris. As a treat there is included a live "bootleg" version of Phish doing it acappella.

Marion Harris's 1922 recording of Carolina in the Morning made the song popular
I have long considered Kahn to be one of the ten best lyriscists of all time. Among his other timeless materpieces are, I'll See You In My Dreams, Ain't We Got Fun, It Had To Be You, Dream a Little Dream Of Me, Makin' Whoopie, My Baby Just Cares For Me, Side by Side, Yes Sir, That's My Baby, Love Me Or Leave Me, Guilty, and my sentimental favorite, Charly My Boy.

What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.



If the composer of the song entitled "Carolina in the Morning" had been writing about The University of North Carolina, he probably would have written "Nothing could be finer than to be at Carolina in the morning" rather than "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning." It could be that the author of that song knew that both North and South Carolina were once a part of the state of Virginia. In the 1700's The state of Carolina was formed and later it was divided into two seperate states known as North and South Crolina. Most people are not aware that there ever was a state called Carolina.